Life is a Sacrament

I love Maria Shriver's "I've Been Thinking." She takes a look at life and her part in it. Sister Joan is a friend of Maria's and is a role model who is an outspoken nun, writer, and a champion for women. Maria shared a Sister Joan quote I love.

"There are two ways to do anything. We can do it in order to make life better for me, or we can do it in order to make life better for someone else, as well as for me. The first gets the thing done, the second way gets the thing done and makes life a sacrament."

I love the idea that life is a sacrament because it is so sacred! So one of my goals in my daily life is to make a sacred community wherever I go. I am about half a year into my dialysis process. I came into the community in January - a stranger who had no idea what was going on.

I can honestly say some six months later I still am not too sure what is going on. But the center where I get the procedure done every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday has become so sacred for me. Each person I interact with at the facility is a part of the Divine. As such I constantly remind the community that when I participate in the process things must occur with laughter and humor for such is the way of the world.

Every daily interaction in our life has the potential to be Divine and it is up to us to make that happen. It is always a missed opportunity when we let things slide by and the flow becomes a routine that is ego based.

It seems like it could be a lot of work but it is as simple as living the heart-based life. The heart part of us that lives around connection and joining together. Heart-based has nothing to do with 'us versus them' or separation. This daily goal will always make each day fill up with miracles.

It is the natural way to live. But it also means we must live in the place of mindfulness. We can't just let the world rush by. Instead we fully participate in such a way that community builds simply and easily. It is using semi-colons instead of periods.

So this day of yours that you have been given is such a gift and you have the choice in how you deliver it into consciousness. I dare you to choose to be fully authentic with a strong internal voice that will build community. It is much easier than you think it is. But you must let go and move forward so that it becomes second nature. Get out of your own way and you will be amazed at what is left. You will be building bridges in the community and the common characteristics of the bridges will be strength, faith, and heart. Time to go..........